An Introduction to Edmodo by Julia Cutler and John Watts
Edmodo provides a safe and easy way for your class to connect, collaborate, share content, access homework, grades and school notices. What is hot right now with the "net" Generation? Social Networking! Why not bring social networking to your class and use it to engage students in learning?
Social networking is one of the most popular aspects of technology today. Edomodo, which can be accessed by going to www.edmodo.com, is a safe online environment for students to collaborate, learn and share new ideas. It can also be used as a community for teachers at a school, as well as for parents to know what is going on in a specific class that their child is in. Students can also reach outside the boundaries of the classroom to share in learning with students across the world. It is much like Facebook but with the teacher having control over the content. The teacher can set each student’s account as read-only or open. Students are able to take quizzes and get instant feedback, turn in homework and take part in polls. Students have online backpacks and are able to save their documents, readings, music and pictures. Students can keep their accounts and are able to continue to use them for their other classes from year to year.
Edmodo screenshot
Personal Experience with Edmodo by John Watts:
My personal experience with Edmodo has been great. I was introduced to the site in a workshop. I joined the site a year ago and slowly became familiar with the site. It has made communication with the students enjoyable. It is great to poll students, post assignments and quizzes. Students who miss school always have access to the class. I had access to my students when I was home with the birth of my child last year. It is a great way to store projects for students and teachers both. I like the communities and have taken some great ideas from other teachers here. I found everyone to be helpful.
I like that it is free and there are free webinars and it allows management of class work. I feel that the site is well maintained and is easy to navigate. The help page is wonderful. That fact the students can keep their work year to year and join and leave classes each year is another plus. I hope to see more teachers in my building using it because the students enjoy using it. The students response to the site is intense. The first time the students see the site they relate it to Facebook. Most social networking sites are blocked by the district. I ask a question and set the class settings to respond for all students and ask them to respond to each other and myself through the site. They love it. It is wonderful they still communicate but the class is quiet. Students like the fact that their assignmets are there always and they can upload to the cloud. (their backpack/library for them). No jump drives, no one else erases their folder on the desktop. Students enjoy all parts of the site. Students love to show their parents what they know about the site and the parents appreciate that they can access their son/daughters work. Parents and students both give Edmodo an A+.
Meeting the needs of today's students through online networking
Edmodo meets the needs of the K-12 classroom by allowing student access to the teacher, posted assignments, posted quizzes and tests outside of the classroom. It is a free site that is easy to navigate for teachers and students. As a teacher, John is connected to two communities, Project Based Learning and Computer Technology. Through these communities he has obtained valuable information during the school year on many topics from other middle school teachers. The site allows the user cloud storage for assignments, quizzes, test, music and pictures. A teacher is able to group students into different classes and keep organized. Edmodo also allows a teacher to post to all classes, some classes or individual students. Teachers are able to award students badges for motivation and also grade assignments, this is a great motivational tool. Quizzes and test are graded automatically for instant feedback to students. Edmodo also provides a help page that is very useful.
Using Edmodo to support teaching and learning
This tool supports teaching and learning by actively engaging students through the use of technology. It is a hands-on tool that they can use to contribute to the online community that has been established by the teacher. Students are able to collaborate and be engaged in an online environment. One example of its many uses would be something such as an online book club for a book that is being read together in class. Another example, one that John has used in the past, is for students to keep a "career pathway project" which is to be updated every year as they move through middle school and high school.
Activities that can be designed through Edmodo
Online discussions
Quizzes
Polls
Tests
TPCK considerations:
The elements of TPCK, technological, pedagogical and content knowledge, can be seen at work when using technology such as Edmodo in a classroom. The teacher can deliver content through the use of technology by uploading learning materials, creating assignments and providing feedback on Edmodo to support student learning. In this case, Edmodo is being used for a career pathways/computer technology class. The teacher is using Edmodo as a tool to direct students to specific websites, provide materials that can be downloaded and guide online discussions.
Strategies and tips for using Edmodo
Before teachers begin to use Edmodo they should familiarize themselves with the site itself. Much like Facebook, a teacher will need to build their page. Each page can have a folder for each class that they would like to use it for. For example, if a teacher has six different Language Arts classes, there can be six different folders for each class. The teacher will be able to see all of the six folders and organize the students and work according to class. The students will only see the one class that they are enrolled in. After a teacher creates their page they can begin to build the material that will be stored. The teacher can load assignments simply buy uploading documents from their computer. They can also create quizzes/tests within the Edmodo page.
The creators of Edmodo provide a lot of help and support for teachers. There are webinars, lesson plans and communities. The communities are very helpful as there are other teachers online that are discussing how they are using Edmodo in their classes. Teachers also share files and documents that they have used before.
One of the most important first steps in applying Edmodo in k-12 setting would be to familiarize students with the website. Navigation of the site can be done with a scavenger hunt and a guided walk through. A hook for middle school students is relating the site to Facebook. Many school districts block Facebook and students interests are sparked when they are able to communicate with fellow students through the computer. Another nice feature of Edmodo is that a student can earn "badges", kind of like stickers that a teacher would put on homework for a job well done. Student can collect these on their home page and feel a sense of accomplishment.
In regard to keeping kids honest online, students must be monitored when taking quizzes/tests on Edmodo. These assignments will need to be completed in class where the teacher can monitor the activity. Not many assignments will be completed outside of class since this is a computer course where students are in front of a desktop computer during their class time. If there is any sort of outside work where a student must upload a document, the teacher will have to have proper rules in place just like any other course would require that students do not cheat and/or copy each other's homework. One way would be to make assignments that require critical thinking and analysis.
Edmodo provides a safe and easy way for your class to connect, collaborate, share content, access homework, grades and school notices.
What is hot right now with the "net" Generation? Social Networking! Why not bring social networking to your class and use it to engage students in learning?
Social networking is one of the most popular aspects of technology today. Edomodo, which can be accessed by going to www.edmodo.com, is a safe online environment for students to collaborate, learn and share new ideas. It can also be used as a community for teachers at a school, as well as for parents to know what is going on in a specific class that their child is in. Students can also reach outside the boundaries of the classroom to share in learning with students across the world. It is much like Facebook but with the teacher having control over the content. The teacher can set each student’s account as read-only or open. Students are able to take quizzes and get instant feedback, turn in homework and take part in polls. Students have online backpacks and are able to save their documents, readings, music and pictures. Students can keep their accounts and are able to continue to use them for their other classes from year to year.
Personal Experience with Edmodo by John Watts:
My personal experience with Edmodo has been great. I was introduced to the site in a workshop. I joined the site a year ago and slowly became familiar with the site. It has made communication with the students enjoyable. It is great to poll students, post assignments and quizzes. Students who miss school always have access to the class. I had access to my students when I was home with the birth of my child last year. It is a great way to store projects for students and teachers both. I like the communities and have taken some great ideas from other teachers here. I found everyone to be helpful.
I like that it is free and there are free webinars and it allows management of class work. I feel that the site is well maintained and is easy to navigate. The help page is wonderful. That fact the students can keep their work year to year and join and leave classes each year is another plus. I hope to see more teachers in my building using it because the students enjoy using it. The students response to the site is intense. The first time the students see the site they relate it to Facebook. Most social networking sites are blocked by the district. I ask a question and set the class settings to respond for all students and ask them to respond to each other and myself through the site. They love it. It is wonderful they still communicate but the class is quiet. Students like the fact that their assignmets are there always and they can upload to the cloud. (their backpack/library for them). No jump drives, no one else erases their folder on the desktop. Students enjoy all parts of the site. Students love to show their parents what they know about the site and the parents appreciate that they can access their son/daughters work. Parents and students both give Edmodo an A+.
Meeting the needs of today's students through online networking
Edmodo meets the needs of the K-12 classroom by allowing student access to the teacher, posted assignments, posted quizzes and tests outside of the classroom. It is a free site that is easy to navigate for teachers and students. As a teacher, John is connected to two communities, Project Based Learning and Computer Technology. Through these communities he has obtained valuable information during the school year on many topics from other middle school teachers. The site allows the user cloud storage for assignments, quizzes, test, music and pictures. A teacher is able to group students into different classes and keep organized. Edmodo also allows a teacher to post to all classes, some classes or individual students. Teachers are able to award students badges for motivation and also grade assignments, this is a great motivational tool. Quizzes and test are graded automatically for instant feedback to students. Edmodo also provides a help page that is very useful.
Using Edmodo to support teaching and learning
This tool supports teaching and learning by actively engaging students through the use of technology. It is a hands-on tool that they can use to contribute to the online community that has been established by the teacher. Students are able to collaborate and be engaged in an online environment. One example of its many uses would be something such as an online book club for a book that is being read together in class. Another example, one that John has used in the past, is for students to keep a "career pathway project" which is to be updated every year as they move through middle school and high school.
Activities that can be designed through Edmodo
TPCK considerations:
The elements of TPCK, technological, pedagogical and content knowledge, can be seen at work when using technology such as Edmodo in a classroom. The teacher can deliver content through the use of technology by uploading learning materials, creating assignments and providing feedback on Edmodo to support student learning. In this case, Edmodo is being used for a career pathways/computer technology class. The teacher is using Edmodo as a tool to direct students to specific websites, provide materials that can be downloaded and guide online discussions.
Strategies and tips for using Edmodo
Before teachers begin to use Edmodo they should familiarize themselves with the site itself. Much like Facebook, a teacher will need to build their page. Each page can have a folder for each class that they would like to use it for. For example, if a teacher has six different Language Arts classes, there can be six different folders for each class. The teacher will be able to see all of the six folders and organize the students and work according to class. The students will only see the one class that they are enrolled in. After a teacher creates their page they can begin to build the material that will be stored. The teacher can load assignments simply buy uploading documents from their computer. They can also create quizzes/tests within the Edmodo page.
The creators of Edmodo provide a lot of help and support for teachers. There are webinars, lesson plans and communities. The communities are very helpful as there are other teachers online that are discussing how they are using Edmodo in their classes. Teachers also share files and documents that they have used before.
One of the most important first steps in applying Edmodo in k-12 setting would be to familiarize students with the website. Navigation of the site can be done with a scavenger hunt and a guided walk through. A hook for middle school students is relating the site to Facebook. Many school districts block Facebook and students interests are sparked when they are able to communicate with fellow students through the computer. Another nice feature of Edmodo is that a student can earn "badges", kind of like stickers that a teacher would put on homework for a job well done. Student can collect these on their home page and feel a sense of accomplishment.
In regard to keeping kids honest online, students must be monitored when taking quizzes/tests on Edmodo. These assignments will need to be completed in class where the teacher can monitor the activity. Not many assignments will be completed outside of class since this is a computer course where students are in front of a desktop computer during their class time. If there is any sort of outside work where a student must upload a document, the teacher will have to have proper rules in place just like any other course would require that students do not cheat and/or copy each other's homework. One way would be to make assignments that require critical thinking and analysis.
Link to Teaching Scenario #1: http://edmoto.wikispaces.com/Teaching+Scenario+1